Wick assembly and method for installing an underdrain

ABSTRACT

A wick assembly for installation under a roadway according to the invention includes a perforated drain pipe, an inner sheet of a wicking fabric disposed on the perforated drain pipe in a manner effective to cover the perforations therein, an outer sheet of a wicking fabric, and a layer of filter aggregates confined between the inner and outer wicking fabric sheets to form a wick drain in combination with the perforated drain pipe. Water passes through the sheets and filter aggregates in order to enter the perforated drain pipe through the perforations therein. The wick drain may be disposed inside an outer pipe with the outer fabric sheet in slidable contact with the inner periphery of the pipe casing. The outer pipe casing serves to protect the wick drain during installation and is later removed once the wick drain is in position.

This application is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No 13/665,456 filed onOct. 31, 2012, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,545,130 on Oct. 1, 2013,which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/640,782,filed on Dec. 18, 2006, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,303,215 on Nov. 6,2012, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/087,305, filed on Mar. 23, 2005, now abandoned, which claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/556,536 filed onMar. 26, 2004. These applications and patents are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety and for any purpose.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to methods and systems for the installation ofunderdrains beneath roads and other structures.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Highways and other paved or concrete roadways can be damaged by water orother accumulated liquids under the roadway. The formation of bumps orfrost heaves begins as water seeps under the roadway. As the waterfreezes and expands in cold weather, the resultant ice pushes up theroadway and forms bumps in the road. These road bumps requireconsiderable cost and time to cut out the damaged areas and repave orreapply concrete. Further, such roadway repairs require additional costsin closing down traffic and providing traffic control.

Haas U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,024, Feb. 28, 1989, provides a method forinstalling a pavement underdrain wherein underdrains in the form ofperforate pipes, preferably covered with a geotextile sock as a filter,are disposed transversely to the lengthwise direction of the roadway inclose proximity to faults, cracks, joints and other fissures in theroadway. The underdrains conduct water away from such fissures therebypreventing roadbed particulate material from being pumped upwardlythrough the fissures together with water which collects below theconcrete roadway. However, these underdrains have a relatively limitedlife in the field, such as 5 years or so, due to the, tendency for thefilter fabric to become clogged. The present invention provides a wickdrain having a much greater useful life, as well as a method forinstalling such a wick drain in situations where open cutting ortrenching is impractical.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A wick assembly for installation under a roadway according to theinvention includes a perforated drain pipe, an inner sheet of a wickingfabric disposed on the perforated drain pipe in a manner effective tocover the perforations therein, an outer sheet of a wicking fabric, anda layer of filter aggregates confined between the inner and outerwicking fabric sheets to form a wick drain in combination with theperforated drain pipe, such that water passes through the sheets andfilter aggregates in order to enter the perforated drain pipe throughthe perforations therein. The wick drain may be disposed inside an outerpipe with the outer fabric sheet in slidable contact with the innerperiphery of the pipe casing. As described further, the outer pipecasing serves to protect the wick drain during installation and is laterremoved once the wick drain is in position.

The invention further provides a method for installation of a wick drainin the ground. First, if necessary, a passageway is formed through theground having an entry opening and an exit opening. A wick drain such asthe one described above disposed inside a pipe casing is drawn into thepassageway until the wick drain is positioned inside the passageway.Then the pipe casing is removed from the passageway by sliding it off ofthe wick drain, leaving the wick drain in the passageway in a positionthat allows accumulated liquids to be drawn into the wick drain anddrain out of the passageway. The method can be used with a preexistingpassageway, although most commonly a new passageway will be drilledusing a directional drilling machine. To aid in removing the pipe casingwhile leaving the wick drain in place, it is preferred to secure thewick drain against lengthwise movement inside the passageway prior toremoving the pipe casing, such as by tying it at one end to an anchoringobject and pulling on the pipe casing from the other end.

The foregoing method can be practiced with a horizontal directionaldrilling machine such as the Vermeer Navigator. Using an HDD machine, apilot hole is drilled from the entry opening to the exit opening, and aback reamer is then connected to the distal end of the drill string,which back reamer is in turn connected to the pipe casing. The HDDmachine then pulls the back reamer and pipe casing with the wick draininside. back through the pilot hole to fully form the passageway. Ifthere is an existing pipe or drain in place, then the step of drillingthe pilot hole is omitted, and the back reamer can be provided with pipebursting capability so that existing pipe is burst as the pipe casingand wick drain are drawn in. One such pipe bursting pipe puller isdescribed in Wentworth et al. U.S. Patent Publication 20040218982, Nov.4, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The invention further relates to an underdrain for a railroad bedcomprising a railroad track and bed on which the track is built. Theunderdrain includes an elongated perforate pipe for collecting waterfrom the railroad bed, which, pipe is disposed in the railroad beddirectly below the track and runs along the lengthwise direction of thetrack, preferably along the centerline of the bed or close to it. Atleast one outlet pipe is in communication with the perforate pipe, whichoutlet pipe extends laterally from the perforate pipe and has an outletopening on one side of the railroad bed which conducts water from theunderdrain out of the railroad bed. The invention further provides amethod for installing the foregoing railroad underdrain using adirectional drilling machine. This and other aspects of the inventionare set forth in the detailed description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross section of a wick drain according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross section of a wick drain according to the inventionwherein the aggregate layer has been subdivided into lobes;

FIG. 3 is a cross section of the wick drain of FIG. 2 inserted inside apipe casing prior to installation;

FIGS. 4-8 are a series of schematic diagrams illustrating a method ofinstalling a wick drain according to the invention;

FIG. 9 is a top view of a railroad bed drain installation according tothe invention;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the installation shown in FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is an end view of the installation shown in FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a wick drain 10 according to the invention. Wick 10is formed by assembling inner and outer sheets 11, 12 with a layer offilter aggregate 13 in between. Sheets 11, 12 are preferably made of arot-proof woven or non-woven fabric geotextile permeable to water butsubstantially impermeable to fines, i.e. soil particles. The filtermaterials 13 may include tire crumb rubber, a rock aggregate, 1/8″granular sand, a combination of these materials, and/or other suitablefilter materials. The size of the filter material may be 3/8-inchchunks, for example. The multi-layer wick 10 may be loosely heldtogether, sewn together, fabricated and/or fastened in a suitablemanner. Wick 10 is then wrapped around a plastic drain pipe 14 havingperforations 15 along its length to allow water to drain inside.Opposing side edges of wick 10 are sewn together, stapled, glued,bonded, or the like along its top margin 16. A suitable cord such as alength or rope or “mule tape” (nylon cord) 17 is also sewn into placealong top margin 16 and has free ends 18 extending from each end of wick10.

In a preferred form of a wick 20 according to the invention as shown inFIGS. 2-3, a series of seams 21 are sewn, stapled, or the like in alengthwise direction to form five lobes 22 in cross section as shown.The lobed structure prevents the aggregate 13 from shifting down to thebottom during the fabrication of the wick or during the installationprocess. The extent to which this is a problem will vary depending onhow the wick is handled during installation and the nature of the filtermaterial. Other means for preventing settling of the filter material,such as a series of spaced apart, radially-extending screens orpartitions subdividing the filter layer 13, may be used as well. Edgesof extra material at opposite sides of outer sheet 12 are superposed andsewn together to form an outwardly extending flap 25 to which cord 17 issecured on one side.

FIG. 3 shows the wick 20 inserted inside an outer pipe or pipe casing 24used during the installation of the hydraulic wick 20 as describedbelow. Pipe 24 may be a 6 1/8-inch high density polyethylene (HDPE)plastic pipe, for example. Pipe 24 is preferably not perforated so that,in the event the wick is installed through an area already saturatedwith water; the water will not start entering the wick drain until thewick drain is fully installed. Such water can greatly add to the weightof the assembly and cause breakage during installation. However, inareas where there is no risk of standing water entering wick drain 20 atthe time of installation, it may be feasible to form perforations inouter casing 24 and leave it in place rather than pull it off of thewick drain. Pipe casing 24 also acts as a protective covering for thehydraulic wick which could otherwise become torn if pulled into a holeby itself. Wick 20 is secured along a pair of superposed edges forming aflap 26 to which the cord 17 is secured.

FIGS. 4-7 illustrate a method for installing a wick drain 10 or 20according to the invention underneath a roadway 30. In a horizontal,double-ended drain installation, a horizontal directional drilling (HDD)machine 31 is used to drill a horizontal pilot hole 32 with a duckbillor Trihawk® bit at the desired location. Entry and exit openings 33, 34may already be exposed on the shoulders of the roadway 30, as whereroadway 30 has a pair of drainage ditches 36 on either side, or it maybe necessary to dig entry and exit pits. A foaming agent, water oranother fluid may be ejected from the bit to aid in drilling and floatexcess material out of the bore during drilling in a manner known in theart. At the end of the drilling step, a drill string 35 connected to HDDmachine 31 emerges from exit opening 34.

A series of 20 foot sections of HDPE pipe are fused together end-to-endto the desired length to make the pipe casing 24, which preferably has alength which is about the same as the length of hole 32. A rope or nyloncord is blown through pipe 24 (or fed through by tying a weight to theend) and tied to one free end of cord 17. Wick 20 is then pulled insidecasing 24 using the rope so that it assumes the position shown in FIG.3. During this step, the lobes 21 of wick 20 contact the inner peripheryof casing 24 and compress to some extent as shown. The foregoing stepsare normally carried out to one side of the road near exit opening 34.The drill bit is then removed and a back reamer 41 is mounted on theexposed end of the drill string 35 at exit opening 34. Casing 24 isattached thereto with any desired conventional pipe pulling accessory,such as a pipe pulling mesh that contracts on the outside of pipe casing24 when pulled on. HDD machine 31 is then operated in pullback mode,whereby back reamer 41 passes along the length of the pilot hole 32 andwidens it as shown in FIG. 4. The assembly of pipe casing 24 and wick 20is pulled along behind reamer 41. For this purpose, casing 24 has thesame or slightly smaller diameter than the greatest outer diameter ofreamer 41. During this step, wick drain 20 stays inside pipe casing 24due to its weight; it is not otherwise secured.

When the casing 24 and wick drain 20 are fully installed as shown inFIG. 5, back reamer 41 will have emerged from the original entry opening33. At this stage, the rear free end of the sewn-in cord 17 is tied toan anchoring object 42 (tree, stake set in the ground, post, etc.)Pulling on casing 24 then continues, resulting in pulling the pipecasing 24 off of wick drain 20, leaving drain 20 in place in the bore.If back reamer 41 is not already at the HDD machine 31 at the end of therun, this can be done by continuing to pull back reamer 41 towardsmachine 31. Once back reamer 41 is fully retracted, HDD machine 31itself (which is self-propelled on treads) backs away from entry opening33 in order to continue pulling casing 24 out (see FIG. 6). This stepcould also be done manually by detaching casing 24 from reamer 41 andpulling on it with human workers, the feasibility of this depending onthe length of pipe casing 24 and tightness of engagement between it andthe soil. When casing 24 has been fully removed, wick drain 20 is fullyinstalled as shown in FIG. 7. Exposed ends of cord 17 are removed andscreens (not shown) may be placed over the exposed end openings of thewick drain 20. The lobed structure shown in the drawing having twogeotextile layers with aggregate in between can last up to 100 years.

FIG. 8 shows a form of blind drain 50 installed using the same method asdescribed above, except that the wick drain is at an angle so that waterdrains out of its exposed exit opening 51. Its entry opening may be leftexposed and covered with a screen, or sealed off with a cap and theoriginal entry hole 33 filled in above it, forming the blind drain 50.The wick drain 10, 20 according to the invention remains in place underthe roadway to draw any accumulated water and other liquids into theperforated drain pipe 14. The multi-layer materials 11-13 act like awick to absorb, filter and conduct the liquids into drain pipe 14, whichallows the collected liquids to be pulled by gravity and flow out of theexit point(s) of the drain. The filter materials 11-13 further preventdebris from clogging the perforated drain pipe 14 and ensures the properoperation of the hydraulic wick 20.

The hydraulic wick apparatus and method of the invention avoid theexpense of cutting the highway, traffic control, and repaving orreapplying concrete to repair the roadway. The installation of thehydraulic wick may be performed while traffic is traveling on theroadway, therefore minimizing impact to traffic. Only limited trafficcontrol is needed to ensure driver and road crew safety.

FIGS. 9 to 11 show a double-ended underdrain 60 formed beneath a raisedrailroad bed 61. For this type of installation, unlike the transverseunderdrains used beneath roadways, it is efficient to collect wateralong the centerline of the railroad bed in an area where it tends toaccumulate. For this purpose, drain 60 is generally z- or s-shaped, witha midsection 62 running along the centerline of the railroad bed 61, anda pair of end sections 63, 64 forming outlet pipes angling downwardlyfrom opposite ends of mid-section 62 and at obtuse angles relative tomidsection 62. HDD machine 31 is used to steer at the junctures betweensections, and pipe casing 24 has sufficient flexibility to follow thepath shown, the method of installation otherwise being the same as thatpracticed for a roadway as described above. The actual dimensions can bevaried from those shown to make drilling and reamer pullback easier. Theunderdrain may be a wick drain as described herein or a simpler form ofdrain, such as a perforate pipe by itself or covered with a geotextilesock as described in Haas U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,024, Feb. 28, 1989, thecontents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

While the invention has been described with reference to illustrativeembodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in alimiting sense. The aggregate could, for example, be filled intogeotextile sleeves forming sandbags which are then wrapped around theinner perforate pipe side by side along its length, eliminating the needfor long, quilted blanket having the same length as the perforate innerpipe. These sandbags could wrap all the way around the perforate pipe oronly part way around, as long as the perforations are adequatelycovered. There and other modifications and combinations of theillustrative embodiments will be apparent to persons skilled in the artupon reference to the description. Such variations and additions arespecifically contemplated to be with the scope of the invention. It isintended that the appended claims encompass any such modifications orembodiments.

1. A wick assembly for installation under a roadway, comprising: a perforated drain pipe; a first sheet of a wicking fabric disposed on the perforated drain pipe in a manner effective to cover the perforations therein; a second sheet of a wicking fabric; and a layer of filter aggregate disposed between the first and second wicking fabric sheets to form a wick drain in combination with the perforated drain pipe to allow water to pass through the sheets and filter aggregates in order to enter the perforated drain pipe through the perforations therein.
 2. The wick assembly of claim 1, further comprising one or more lengthwise seams at which the first and second sheets are secured together, subdividing the layer of filter aggregate into a plurality of lobes.
 3. A method of forming a wick drain, the method comprising: sandwiching a layer of filter aggregate between a first sheet of fabric and a second sheet of fabric to form a wick layer; wrapping the wick layer around a perforated drain pipe such that the wick layer covers the perforations therein; and securing the wick layer to the perforated drain pipe.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising subdividing the filter aggregate into two or more partitions.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the two or more partitions are lobes defined between seams securing the first sheet to the second sheet along a lengthwise direction. 